Industry laments passing of Greg Pynt

The insurance industry is mourning the passing of an insurance law doyen.

Perth-based insurance lawyer and author Greg Pynt died on Sunday 23 July.

Mr Pynt, 67, was a former Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA) national board member, Western Australian president and WA committee member. He was an AILA life member and received the AILA Insurance Law Prize in 2000.

In his role as a barrister and mediator, Mr Pynt’s achievements and accomplishments included being a co-founder of the Australian College of Insurance Studies (ACIS), a lecturer at the University of Western Australia (UWA) for 32 years, general editor of the Australian Insurance Law Journal, and author and co-author of many important titles and articles, including Australian Insurance Law: A First Reference, 4th edition, and the fifth edition of Sutton on Insurance.?

AILA national president Cameron Roberts said Mr Pynt had “uncompromising knowledge, passion for his job” and all who knew him admired his warmth, generosity, collegiality and sense of fun.

Mr Pynt’s final week was spent doing what he loved – teaching the ACIS insurance law intensive at UWA and attending the WA Sir Ninian Stephen Insurance Law Masterclass (Insurance Gangnam Style) in Perth, an event he had organised and which was close to his heart.

Mr Roberts said: “Greg’s commitment to AILA and insurance law education was exceptional and he will be missed by all who knew him.”

Alain Musikanth, from Perth’s Francis Burt Chambers, where Mr Pynt was a member from 2013 until he left in 2022 to establish Pynt Chambers, said he was “a decent, kind, warm and generous human being”.

Brahma Dharmananda, from the WA Bar Association, said Mr Pynt was a much-admired member of the WA Bar and the wider legal profession, having been admitted to practice in WA in 1978 and elected a member of the WA Bar in 2013. “He will be long remembered as a generous contributor to and highly respected member of the WA Bar and the legal profession in WA.”

Mr Dharmananda said Mr Pynt had “generously assisted with the work and obligations of the WA Bar since 2018 by assessing and providing advice on professional indemnity policies”.?

Mr Pynt graduated from UWA with a Bachelor of Laws in 1977 and did his articles of clerkship at Perth-based Downing & Downing from 1978 to 1980.

He moved to London in 1981, where he worked for insurance broker Willis Faber & Dumas. From 1981 to 1983, he worked in the litigation department of what is now Clifford Chance in London.

Mr Pynt returned to Perth in 1983, joining the firm now known as King & Wood Mallesons, where he became a partner in 1987. He left there in 1996 to establish Pynt + Partners, where he remained until 2012. He then worked as the senior claims solicitor for Law Mutual (WA).

When he joined the WA Bar in July 2013, Mr Pynt soon established a successful, busy practice covering insurance law, tort law, professional negligence and malpractice, coronial inquests, and disciplinary hearings.

Mr Pynt had been a visiting fellow at UWA since 1991, where he co-ordinated and lectured in insurance law in the Faculty of Law at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Mr Pynt’s family held a private funeral service and has requested privacy. He is survived by his wife Julie and their children Sarah, Ben and David.

A celebratory memorial will be held on Friday 4th August 2023 from 5:00pm at The Melbourne Hotel. RSVP's are requested to [email protected].